Sociology Minor

College of Liberal Arts
Undergraduate minor

About this program

Why a minor in Sociology?

The Sociology minor is an ideal course of study for students interested in gaining a complex, analytical understanding of:

  • How society shapes our daily lives, sometimes in invisible and coercive ways.
  • How differences of abilities, culture, race, class, gender, and sexual orientation contribute significantly to the shaping of societies.
  • How to develop the skills and tools to discover, analyze, and change those obscure social processes that shape our lives.

The Sociology Minor includes both the academic study of society and is dedicated to promoting social justice and cultural respect.

What will I do in the minor?

Courses in the Sociology Minor fall into four areas of study:

  • Sociology is the study of what people do, think, and feel within formal and informal groups, organizations, institutions, and communities.
  • Sociological topics like social movements, the body, deviance, power, food, and homelessness.
  • Social institutions like the family, religion, education, government, and business.
  • Social dimensions of the inequalities of gender, race, class, religion, culture, and sexual orientation.

Students in the Sociology Minor will take between 19 and 20 credits of sociology courses.

What can I do with the minor?

A Sociology Minor is an excellent complement to a number of majors. These include:

  • Professional programs such as psychology, law enforcement, criminal justice, human services, social work, and international business
  • Liberal arts programs in history, gender studies, professional communication, ethnic studies, or philosophy.

More information on careers in sociology can be found on the American Sociology Association’s career center.

Student outcomes

The learning outcomes for this major provide the knowledge, skills, and abilities to enter the 21st-century workplace to:

  • know and understand the essential concepts of social science;
  • comprehend the historical foundations, theoretical paradigms, and research methods of social science;
  • develop higher order thinking skills by analyzing and interpreting social science literature;
  • write analytically in a style that is informed, well-reasoned, and literate;
  • recognize and understand differences of gender and sexual orientation, race and ethnicity, religion, and social class;
  • understand and utilize a global perspective
  • develop civic skills by participating in community-based learning and internships
  • become advocates and leaders in their communities, our nation, and the globe

Enrolling in this program

Current students: Declare your program

Once you’re admitted as an undergraduate student and have met any further requirements your chosen program may have, you may declare a major or declare an optional minor.

Future students: Apply now

Apply to Metropolitan State: Start the journey toward your Sociology Minor now. Learn about the steps to enroll or, if you have questions about what Metropolitan State can offer you, request information, visit campus or chat with an admissions counselor.

Get started on your Sociology Minor

Course requirements

Requirements (19-20 credits)

Lower division electives (3-4 credits)

SOC 101 Introduction to Sociology

3 credits

This course is an introduction to the sociological perspective. Students examine the social processes that shape societies and the course of their histories. The social nature of biographies is explored through the study of the family and socialization, education and work, bureaucracy and the economy, gender, social class, and race and ethnicity.

Full course description for Introduction to Sociology

Survey (4 credits)

Choose one

SOC 301 Contemporary Sociology

4 credits

This course introduces and explores the sociological perspective. The central theme of the course is what C. Wright Mills called the sociological imagination which enables us to grasp history and biography and the relations between the two within society. Students explore how they are embedded in ever widening social circles that range from local to global. The focus is on how social forces such as culture, race and ethnicity, nationality, religion, social class, and gender contribute to the shaping of societies and the course of their histories. Students use conceptual tools drawn from sociology to analyze a range of contemporary social issues.

Full course description for Contemporary Sociology

SOC 302 Interpersonal and Social Power: A View from Below

4 credits

Power has traditionally been defined from the perspective of those who issue orders. This course examines power from the vantage point of those expected to follow orders. A model of empowerment is developed and applied to the interpersonal and social dynamics of domination and subordination with emphasis on gender, class, race and ethnicity. Novels, movies, autobiographies, simulation games and case studies are used to explore the power dimension in everyday life.

Full course description for Interpersonal and Social Power: A View from Below

Upper division (12 credits)

Choose three upper division courses in Sociology. Students may also substitute SSCI 300, SSCI 311, SSCI 401, SSCI 501

SSCI 300 Seeing Like a Social Scientist

4 credits

Most of us are only dimly aware of how politics, culture, and society influence, and often coerce, our daily lives. The calling of a social scientist is to help us make these invisible social structures visible. In this course, students develop the skills and tools to discover, analyze, and interpret these obscure social processes. Ideally, this knowledge will have a liberating effect on their individual lives. Students will also perceive how their civic and ethical participation can change politics, culture, and society, as well as themselves.

Full course description for Seeing Like a Social Scientist

SSCI 311 Research Methods in Social Science

4 credits

This course provides an introduction to the basic concepts of social science research. Students learn and implement a variety of research methods, and critically reflect on the relationship of these methods to philosophical traditions within social science. The courses examines two approaches to social science research, quantitative and qualitative, and the unique contribution of each approach for understanding social life. Experiential activities enhance classroom learning.

Full course description for Research Methods in Social Science

SSCI 401 Social Science Seminar: Contending Perspectives

4 credits

This course provides students with the opportunity to understand, integrate, and apply the core themes and contending perspectives that underline the social studies disciplines. Through guided readings, research and discussion, seminar participants further develop the capacity to analyze selected issues through multiple lenses. Students apply these multiple perspectives to teaching middle and secondary social studies.

Full course description for Social Science Seminar: Contending Perspectives

SSCI 501 Great Ideas: Classics of Social Science

4 credits

The social sciences have been shaping views of the human condition for more than 150 years. This seminar explores those ideas that continue to engage and perplex thoughtful observers of social life. Students become acquainted with writing by major thinkers like Karl Marx, Max Weber, Emile Durkheim, Georg Simmel, Sigmund Freud, Ruth Benedict, Frantz Fanon and Hannah Arendt. The course addresses the social and historical roots of the great ideas as well as the moral aspirations and creative impulses of these social scientists.

Full course description for Great Ideas: Classics of Social Science